Surgical dressing.



C.' C. WILLIS. SURGICAL DRESSING. APPLICATION flu-:xr mn. 12. 191s,

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HARIES C. WILLIS, 0F PRMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR. T0 DENNISN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPOM- I TIOIll OP MASSACHUSETTS; WHICH COMPANY HAS DEDICATED ENTIRE RIGHT y T0 THE PEOPLE OlF THE UNITED STATES 0F AMERICA.

SURGICAL DRESSING.

Application tiled January 12, 1918.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES C. WILLIs, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Framinghaim'in the county of Middlesex and' State'of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Surgical Dressings, of which the following is a specification.

'Ihis invention relates to surgical dressings and has for its object the provision of a dressing, pad or bandage Which is soft and yielding, which will absorb liquid rapidly and' in largey quantities, which may be applied in a loose and open manner so as to afford ventilation and freedom of movement or ywhich may be compressed tightly in the manner of an ordinary cloth dressing, and which possesses other characteristics pe'c'uliarly adapting it to surgical dressings.

In one aspect the invention comprises a sheet of absorbent paper or other bibulous material with a plurality of perforations formed therein so that the power of absorption of the material is increased. The material is preferably formed at least in part of fibers with the fibers extending predominantly in a certain direction and the perforations are preferably produced in the form of slits extending transversely of the bers so that the strength of the material Will not be unduly weakened either longitudinally or transversely" of the fibers and so that the ends of the fibers'vvill be exposed at the slits to absorb by capillary action. 'Ihe material is also struck-up or raised on one or both sides of each perforation so that the edges of thematerial at each perforation will be exposed, and when striking up the-opposite edges of the perforations the opposite edges are preferably struck-up in opposite directions so that the opposite edges will be exposed on opposite sides of the material.

In a more limited aspect the invention consists in further treating the material byA forming crinkles or corrugations therein as by crimping or rumpling the material so as to produce a rimose or rimulose formation. l-Vhen so treated the crinkles may be formed either transverselyl of the perforations or transversely vof the fibers of the material. lVhen the crinkles are formed transversely of the perforations liquid entering the perforations will pass more readily along the Specification of Letters Patent.

rarement apr. aa, iaia. Serial No. 211,517.

troughs or crevices in the material and therefore will be absorbed more rapidly. `When the crinkles are formed transversely of the fibers the elasticity of the material is somewhat increased so that it Will retain its crinkled formation more tenaciously and so that it may be stretchedmoretightly Without flattening.

In `the drawings,-

Figure l is an elevational View of my improved dressing;`

Figs. 2, 3 and 4f are sections taken transversely of the perforations showing three Ways in which the material may be struckup adjacent the perforations;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of a modified form of my improved dressing; and F Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6-6'of Y The embodiment of my invention illustrated in Ilig. l comprises a sheet of absorbent paper A having a plurality of slit-like perforations IB therein, the perforations preferably being arranged in a plurality of of a piece rows to facilitate their formation although rIlhe prefer to employ is thin and and is made of Wood pulp with the this arrangement is not essential. paper which I soft fibers extending predominantly in a direction transverse to the perforations.

In addition to the perforations I preferably strike-up or otherwise raise the material on one or both sides of each perforation for reasons which Will appear elsewhere herein. In Fig. 2 the material is illustrated as being raised at C on the left-hand side of each perforation B so that the edges of the material on opposite sides of the perforations .are exposed on opposite sides of the material. As shown in Fig. 3, the material is raised 011 both sides of each perforation so that the edges D and E on opposite sidesl of the perforations are exposed on the same side of the material. In Fig. 4 the material is shown as struck-up in opposite directions on opposite sides of the perforations so that the opposite edges F and G are exposed on opposite sides of the material as in Fig. 2.

In the modified form of my invention illustrated inV Figs. 5 and 6 the material A. is I not only perforated at B as in Fig. 1,'but is also provided with crinkles or corrugatlons H, the crinkles preferably extending transversely of the perforations. In this connection reference is made to the application of J ames R. Armington, Sr. No. 211,640,1iled January 12, 1918, which fully discloses a crinkled formation suitable for the purpose of the present invention.

Q the many advantages pertaining to my improved surgical dressing I deem the following of greatest importance: By providing perforations in the material the dressing is rendered more absorbent inasmuch as liquid will nass rapidly into the material at the perforations and Will be taken up in large quantities. Moreover, when employing a number of layers of the material in superposition liquid Will penetrate through the several layers more rapidly and completely on account of the perforations. When the fibers of the material are arranged predominantly in a given direction and when the perforations are formed transversely thereof the rate of absorption is still further increased owing to the capillary action along the fibers extending from the perforations. A still further advantage is obtained by forming the perforations transversely of the predominant direction of the fibers inasmuch as the material is stronger longitudinally of the fibers and is substantially as strong in this direction after the perforations are formed as it is transversely of the fibers, whereas if the perforations are cut longitudinally of the fibers the material is unduly weakened transversely of the fibers.

By striking up the material adjacent the perforations the edges of the material at the perforations are more completely exposed, especially Where the perforations are in the form of slits, and the above mentioned advantages are Still further accentuated. The

struck-up portions of the material also tend to prevent the material from packing too tightly when several sheets are employed together. When the material is also crimped liquid entering at the perforations will spread from the perforations more readily, t' is advantage being of particular importance When the several sheets of the material are superposed.

I claim 1. A surgical dressing comprising a sheet of bibulous material having a plurality of slit-like `perforations distributed therein.

2. A surgical dressing comprising a sheet of absorbent paper having a plurality of slit-like perforatlons distributed therein.

3. A surgical dressing comprising a sheet of bibulous material having a plurality of perforations distributed thcrein,the material being Struck-up at each perforation so that the edges of the perforations arc exposed.

4.. A surgical dressing comprising a sheet of bibulous material having a plurality of perforations distributed therein, the material being struck-up in opposite directions on opposite sides of each perforation so that the opposite edges of each perforation are eX- posed on opposlte sides of the sheet.

5. A surgical dressing comprising a sheet of absorbent paper having a plurality of slitlike perforations extending predominantly in a certain direction and having a plurality of juxtaposed crinkles extending predominantly in a different direction.

6. A surgical dressing comprising a sheet of bibulous material having a plurality of slits distributed therein in parallelism.

Signed by me at Framingham, Massachusetts, this ninth day. of January, 1918.

' CHARLES C. WILLIS. 

